Supreme Court Dismisses Appeal to Recuse Judge Lee Hwa-young in North Korea Remittance Suspicion Case as 'No Grounds'

The Supreme Court dismissed the recusal request filed by former Gyeonggi Province Deputy Governor for Peace Lee Hwa-young, who is undergoing a first trial related to allegations of illegal remittances to North Korea by Ssangbangwool Group, ruling it as 'without merit.'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Seo Kyung-hwan) on the 28th dismissed the rehearing petition against the decision to reject the recusal request filed by former Deputy Governor Lee.

The Supreme Court allows defendants who file a rehearing petition for judge recusal a period of 20 days to submit reasons for the rehearing before making a final decision. The court judged that former Deputy Governor Lee's recusal request was without merit and thus dismissed it.

Former Deputy Governor Lee filed the recusal request just before the conclusion of the first trial on October, causing the trial to be abruptly halted and delayed for two months.

Lee's side argued that the three judges of the Criminal Division 11 of Suwon District Court, who are presiding over the main case involving charges of bribery, violation of the Political Funds Act, and violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, failed to restrain or limit the prosecution's leading questions during witness examinations, raising concerns about an unfair trial. The Criminal Division 12 of Suwon District Court (Presiding Judge Hwang In-seong) dismissed the recusal request. Lee immediately appealed, but the Suwon High Court also dismissed it. Lee's side then filed a rehearing petition with the Supreme Court on the 27th of last month, seeking the court's judgment.

Lee was arrested and indicted last October on charges of receiving and using corporate cards and vehicles from Ssangbangwool Group as compensation for supporting inter-Korean economic cooperation from July 2018 to July 2022. He is also accused of registering aides as Ssangbangwool Group employees to receive false salaries.

Additionally, Lee is charged with involvement in the illegal remittance case to North Korea (violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act), in which former Ssangbangwool Group Chairman Kim Seong-tae allegedly delivered 8 million USD to North Korea in 2019, including 5 million USD for Gyeonggi Province's smart farm support project and 3 million USD for then-Governor Lee Jae-myung's visit to North Korea.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.